Breakable...

This is my new favorite song... This past weekend Hannah and Micah's school had an entire day of performances. (They go to a fine arts magnet public school) One of the dances that was performed was to this song "Breakable". They carried around signs at first and said things like, "They call me stupid", "I get made fun of for wearing glasses", etc... Then in the middle of the song they tore up their signs and threw them in the air and continued dancing... The perfect part to this song was that one of the dancers was a boy...

Here it is... BREAKABLE...

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

This morning...

Luca: "Mommy, go get your boobies on so we can go somewhere!"

Translation... "Mommy, go get out of your pajamas and put your bra on so we can go somewhere."

This is a very sad day... Even my 3 year old knows that without Victoria's Secret's MEGA PADDED PUSH UP BRA... I have nothing...

Boy, nursing 3 kids did a # on me... lol...

Have a great day!
Rebekah

My MJC Entry...

Disclaimer... This is probably not what they were looking for, for the contest... but, this is what Matilda Jane Clothing means to me... (If you don't like conceptual ideas, this will not be your thing... :-) It was fun creating in my mind what I wanted to do, and then completing it... I wish I would have had my new camera last week... but oh well.. (The 10 finalists have been chosen and I can't wait to see all of the different ideas!!!) I am hoping they put them up tonight...
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Matilda Jane Clothing means a lot to me in a different sort of way. The clothes are amazing, the designer is amazing; but it is something different. Hannah is stared at all of the time when we are out in public. Not in a mean way, just I think more out of curiosity, since it is not every day that you see a 9-year-old girl with a cane. When Hannah is dressed in her MJC, even if it is just for a few seconds, people look at her clothes first. Then they notice that she is blind. Hannah doesn’t know that they are staring and she could really care less. But for me, as her mom, it gives me a brief respite from the stares and questions. I honestly don’t see her as blind, I see her as Hannah. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amazing designs and funky clothes!!! Hannah loves wearing her MJC because she gets so many compliments. I love MJC because we can blend in for a brief time. Sincerely, Rebekah Hubley—Mom to an AMAZING girl!!!!!!!!!!!!





Please Don't Stare...

She cannot see you staring, but I can...
Have you never been taught that staring is rude???
No you were not; your mom is staring too...
When you stand and stare...
It makes me feel as if there is something wrong with her...
She is my flesh and blood...
She is a little girl, just like your little girl...
She is blind, not deaf...
When you want to know something, ask her...
She has no shame in being blind, nor should she...
When you are talking about her, she can hear you...
Her hearing is acute...
When you say comments like...
"Oh, isn't she cute, they even cut her hair in a wedge..."
I WANT TO HIT YOU!!!
Why wouldn't we???
She is a little girl...
Please treat her with the respect that she deserves...
Someday when she is making well over six figures...
You might be saying,
"I wish I would have gotten to know her...
Instead of just staring at her..."
She has feelings...
She has likes and dislikes...
She is crazy gifted in music...
She has a memory that I covet...
She has a zeal for life like no other person that I know...
She is the most loyal friend you could ever have...
She will never stare at you...
She will never judge you for your looks, clothes, color of skin, or weight...
She is the real deal...

I understand when you are staring it is out of ignorance...
So let me educate you...

You are staring at MY DAUGHTER...
You are staring at a little girl that did not choose the way she was born...
You are staring at one of the 5 most precious things in my life...
You are staring at a music prodigy...
You are staring at a high honor student...
You are staring at the South Side valedictorian of 2019...
You are staring at a future grad of Juilliard...
You are staring at an actor...
You are staring at an author...
You are staring at A LITTLE GIRL WHO HAPPENS TO BE BLIND...

You are staring at Hannah....
PLEASE STOP!!!
I understand a look, her blindness is unique...

BUT STOP THE GAWKING, FINGER POINTING, AND PROLONGED STARING!!!
She is just a little girl, just like yours...
She cannot see you staring, BUT I CAN...
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The last page we included a page that we brailled, "Matilda Jane Rocks!!!" Love-Hannah
and then I ink printed above it...

So, there you have it... my entry... :-)

We got one...

God is good!!! We got a call tonight that we were awarded the grant for James 1:27. We will receive 2500k from them. I am so excited... God is going easy on Ryan's nerves... :-)

China Adoption Update...

Well, we are sailing right through the system. I hesitate to even type that... but I am not superstitious so no worries... :-) We are so used to Haiti's system, so I feel like we are moving lightning speed. Our dossier got to China in March and we got our letter of Seeking (LOA) last week. This letter proposes the child to you (even though we knew about her last year) and you have to check a box that you and your husband either accept or reject the proposal. Obviously we checked yes! :-)

At this point, we signed a bunch of papers for WACAP and got them notarized and then we filled out our final immigration papers. Can you believe it??? We filled out our I-800, a DS 230 (immigration form for Chun Yan), and a W864. We sent everything back to WACAP Friday and it got there Monday. Our I-800 and other immigration papers were submitted on Tuesday. Our Letter of Seeking was sent back to China and now we just wait for our I-800 approval. This could take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Once that is approved, we copy and send our approval letter back to WACAP right away and they send it on to China for our Visa appointment. Can you believe it??? We are probably looking at 4 months from time of dossier submitted to gotcha day... This is how it should be...

Now, this is for special needs cases, but still. So was Jonas and we are still not even into legalization and it is over 2 years since submission... That's crazy!!!

If you want to pray for us, here are some requests:

We are still 18k short... (no biggy for God, right??? ;-)
We have applied for a bunch of grants and we have a feeling that if we are awarded them, it will come in right before we leave. I am not worried about it, but this will give Ryan a heart attack... :-) Here are the ones we applied for...

James 1:27--The review board met last month and we should be hearing something soon...

Shaohannah's Hope--We got an e-mail yesterday that everything we submitted was what they needed and we needed to do an update form and then it would go on to the selection board. If awarded a grant, we would hear the second week in July... right in the nick of time... :-)

A Gift of Adoption Fund--Waiting on one more letter of reference and then it will be in the mail on Friday.

Our Creator's Hope--Submitted this via e-mail and got a response that they are not accepting new apps right now... Wish I would have seen that before filling that out...

National Adoption Foundation--Submitted an online application and will wait to hear...

Caroline's Promise--Sending this one out tomorrow...

Sea of Faces--I have to wait until June 1st to fill this one out...

So, all of that above was about 10-15 hours of work, if not more... but soooo worth it if we can make up for our lack of funds...

God is faithful, and He will provide somehow...

IF you know of any other grants that I did not list, let me know. We have all of the work done and can just plug in our info...
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Lots to do in a short amount of time... I am so excited for Emily Vanderwell to come down in June. She is going to be staying with us for about 3 weeks or so to help out in any way while we finish everything in June and get ready for China in July. She will be a Godsend and I cannot say enough amazing things about this family!!!!!!!! We have met so many amazing people through our adoptions. God's blessings are astonishing! They blow me out of the water when I stop and reflect on how much He has blessed our family.

I am telling you; if you are afraid to follow God's will for your life, think twice... It might seem scary at first, but the blessings for your obedience far outweighs the uncomfortable feeling of stepping out in faith. Once you get accustomed to that 'feeling', you know when you get 'it', this is exactly where you are supposed to be...

Have a great Thursday...

Rebekah

Sooo Cute...

You're Invited...

Check out this invite below for the wonderful people at Matilda Jane Clothing... I am entering in the contest, even though I probably will not win... I have thoughts and ideas floating around in my head, and I just need to get them out of my camera and into an entry... :-) I will share my entry when I send it in...

I keep forgetting to update about our fundraiser... But, we raised over $850.00 that night, with the help of Matilda Jane Clothing! Thank you to all who came out for that amazing evening!!! I took a few picks, and I need to find them to post... I did not take many since I was so busy talking to everyone. It truly was an amazing night!!! Speaking of our China adoption: We got our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) today, so now we have to fill out some more immigration papers and get them back to WACAP and then once approved, they get sent back to China. Then, we get our invite to travel... Yeah!!!!!!!!

(Click on image to enlarge)

If you are having issues getting the image to enlarge, just hop on over to Denise's Blog and check see the invite full screen. Denise and Matilda Jane are so the "real deal"!!! They have such giving hearts and are always doing things for other people. I don't know about you, but this is the kind of person and company that I want to support!!! If you haven't yet, you must go and check out her amazing clothes here...

Have a great week!

Rebekah